Sunday,
September 17, 2006
Our morning began with a beautiful church service in
downtown Beijing.
The
pastor was American, and the entire service was translated to
Chinese
as
well. The music was great, as was the service. It was a nice way
to
start
off the day. Singing in Chinese was a first for both of us!
Next we visited a jade factory. The owner of the shop taught us
about
the
different types of jade (it's not only green - they had pieces
in
white,
red, pink, brown, etc) and the different qualities of jade (from
fairly
reasonable to obscenely expensive - such as the floorpiece we
saw that
was
available for a mere $28,000!). We also learned about the
Chinese
tradition
of jade - it is considered a very symbolic jewel, and many
mothers pass
on a
jade bracelet from generation to generation, which is believed
to make
a
strong connection between generations as it absorbs the energy
of each
person wearing it, becoming more translucent over the years. Our
tour
guide, for example, has one that has been passed down from her
great
grandmother which she never takes off. Needless to say, there
were
some
very incredible pieces of art, jewelery, etc., but most of it
was just
a tad
too pricey for us penny-pinchers.
We followed that up with another authentic Chinese meal for
lunch.
Although
it was definitely a good meal, most of us in the group are
starting to
yearn
for the golden arches since all of the meals (lunch or dinner)
seem to
be
pretty much the same thing - course after course of meats and
vegetables in
sauces with a big bowl of rice on a lazy susan in the middle of
the
table,
everybody, taking a few chopsticks-full of each kind as it
rotates by
and
placing it on little miniature plates. It seems that watermelon
is the
standard choice for the last dish. We've had a good time getting
to
know
the other adoptive parents during these meals. It's a very
diverse
group in
terms of age, where they're from, new parents versus 6th-time
parents,
etc.
Next stop - Great Wall. Seeing it first hand just underscores
what an
amazing structure it is - 4,500 miles across what used to be the
northern
border of China, and it is massive. Jenny was a real trooper. As
if
struggling up the STEEP stairs of the wall weren't enough, her
asthma
inhaler broke before we really even got started. Thankfully, we
made a
creative repair and we were on our way. Nonetheless, she worked
her
way
quite far up the wall (the section we were at climbed up to a
point
about
2,000 feet on top of a mountain overlooking the Beijing area)
before
she
decided to call it good. All along the way she was getting
admiring
glances
and comments that she was able to make the trek up the wall with
that
thing
on her foot. As if steep wasn't bad enough, the steps were
anything
but
level after a few thousand years of use, and they ranged from a
few
inches
high to nearly a foot high. Jenny sent me on my way so I could
say I
climbed to the top of the Great Wall, and I was able to get some
pictures of
some pretty amazing views on the way. My shirt was pretty much
soaked
in
sweat by the time I got back to the bottom - the way down wasn't
a
whole lot
easier than the way up. The group of us that made it to the top
joked
that
we would need to have our own table at dinner since we sure
weren't
looking
or smelling our prettiest after that trek. But it was worth
every
step.
After that - another authentic Chinese meal for dinner - lazy
suzan,
watermelon and all.
We finished off the day by attending an acrobatics show in a
theatre in
downtown Beijing. Wow! It was a group of kids, the oldest
probably
being
14 or so and the youngest probably 6 or 7. These kids did the
most
amazing
things from a balancing/contortion act to climbing and flipping
between
vertical poles like monkeys to balancing 10 people on a bicycle
while
riding
around in circles, etc., etc. Jenny was able to snap a few
pictures
even
though it was against the rules, but this is just something
you'd have
to
see to believe.
Well, we just shipped our bags off with the bellboy, and they'll
meet
us in
Jiangxi tomorrow. We're leaving the hotel around 9:00 for the
airport.
The
flight to Jiangxi is about 2 hours, and we're told that we'll
get to
meet
Mia around 4:00 tomorrow. Nerves are obviously starting to
build.
Less
than a day to go! We've had a few last-minute mini-crises to
make
things
interesting such as blowing the fuse in both of our electricity
converters
and ruining Jenny's blowdryer in the process. Wouldn't be a huge
problem if
we didn't need to charge all of our cameras for the big day
tomorrow.
Luckily we were able to get our hands on another converter from
one of
the
other families (after the hotel tried to give us one which
quickly shut
off
the power to our entire room), so all is good.
We can't wait to post the next update and tell you about our new
daughter!
That's all for now - talk to you again tomorrow.
Andy |
A beautiful day for climbing...
Great Wall
Great Wall
What a trooper!
TWELVE!!!
Ouch!
|
